Thursday, 22 November 2012

A city with rich history is still standing tall in modern
India. A city, which is considered much older than history itself with ancient river
ghats, narrow alleys, classical art and music, is a perfect symbolization of
India’s rich culture. A city with various names like Varanasi, Banaras or Kashi,
attracts millions of pilgrims around the world. Varanasi is considered
one of the seven holiest places in India.
It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the River
Ganges and its religious importance. The city has been a cultural and
religious centre in North India for several thousand years and is one of the
world's most important religious centres with a history which transcends and
unites most of the major world religions. The Benares Gharana form of the
Indian classical music developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian
philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians resided or reside in Varanasi.
Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath located near Varanasi.

The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of
the two rivers Varuna still flowing in Varanasi and Assi (not visible, though a
small stream of water near Assi Ghat is considered as Assi River), for the old
city lies in the north shores of the Ganges bounded by its two tributaries, the
Varuna and the Assi, with the Ganges being to its south. Another speculation is
that the city derives its name from the river Varuna, which was called Varanasi
in olden times. This is generally disregarded by historians, though there may
be some earlier texts suggesting it to be so. Through the ages, Varanasi was
variously known as Avimuktaka, Anandakanana, Mahasmasana, Surandhana, Brahma
Vardha, Sudarsana, Ramya, and Kasi.

Varanasi has seen several dynasties on its soil and as an
obvious result it has considerable amount of influences around the city. The
most surprising thing is that the older part of the city is still maintaining
its older charm and it is indeed the main attracting part of Varanasi for which
millions of people visit it from almost every part of the globe. The people of
Varanasi and government are perfectly maintaining the old legacy to keep the
tradition intact. The city is also called
“the spiritual capital of India” and “the land of lord shiva”. The reason is
obvious. The famous Vishwanath Temple is situated here and it attracts pilgrims
in great numbers. One can find the symbols of spiritualism at every corner of
this city with some great historical blends. Another great attraction of Varanasi is
narrows alleys. Most of the old part of
the city is connected with these alleys and cruising through these is a
different experience altogether. It is very hard to find a place in the world
with great mixture of history, spiritualism and aesthetic harmony like
Varanasi. Perhaps for this reason Mark Twine once said “Benares is older than
history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old
as all of them put together.”

River ganges and the ghats around it are most important
ingredients of spiritualism of Varanasi. Ganges is considered as goddess in
Hindu mythology and people worship ganges in different forms in different
times. So it is very natural that ganges and the ghats play a significant
role to form the unique atmosphere of Varanasi. Varanasi has nearly 100 ghats,
steps leading to the banks of River Ganges. Many of the ghats were built when
the city was under Maratha control. Some of the ghats were also built during Rajput
regime. Most of the ghats are bathing ghats, while others are used as cremation
sites. Many ghats are associated with legends or mythologies while many ghats
are privately owned. The former Kashi Naresh owns Shivala ghat. Each
and every ghat is internally connected to each other along the river ganges and
this a very unique feature of Varanasi.

Among
them Dashashwamedh is the most famous and central ghat of Varanasi. Most
of the activities related to puja and other things are performed at this ghat. According to Hindu mythology Lord Brahma
sacrificed ten horses here to welcome Lord Shiva. That’s why it is named
Dash(ie, Ten)-Ashwa(ie, Horse) –Medh(ie, Sacrifice or Killing). It is located
close to "Vishwanath Temple", and is probably the most spectacular
ghat.Evening arti atDashashwamedh is very famous in all over the world. In recent times this arti has also been started at Rajendra Prasad and Kedar ghat as well.

Manikarnika is considered as most sacred and one of the most famous
ghats of Varanasi. This is the main cremation
ghat of Varanasi. Hindu mythology teaches that the ghat is especially sacred
and those who cremated here receive moksha. As the myth goes, Vishnu, after
several thousand years of tapasya, trying to please Shiva, to convince him to
not destroy the holy city of Kashi when he destroys the world, managed to do
so. Lord Shiva along with Parvati came to Kashi before Vishnu to grant his
wish. Vishnu dug a kund(well) on the bank of ganaga for the bath of the couple.
When Lord Shiva was bathing a Mani (Jewel) from his earring fell into the kund,
hence the name Manikarnika (Mani:Beads Karnam:Ear Angad: Ornament). There is
another myth about the ghat: the ear jewel from lord Shiva fell down while he
was dancing angrily, which fell on the earth and thus Manikarnika Ghat formed.
People from faraway places come here for cremation to reach heaven. Many people
also put up wish before they die that the cremation must be at Manikarnika. As
a result the fire does not quench here for a single moment. Another ghat called
Harishchandra ghat is also used for cremation, but it is not as famous as
Manikarnika.

Another fascinating element is narrow alleys in Varanasi.
This is also very unique with the mood of this city. In some places the alleys are
so narrow that only one person can pass through. Most of the temples and
mosques are situated inside these alleys and lanes. Most of the houses in Varanasi were built
many years back and during that time there was no proper planning. As a result
these crowded alleys were created and perfectly made a permanent essence of an
ancient city. In recent times most of the markets and shopping areas are grown
up inside these lanes. One has to enter these alleys to taste famous Varanasi
kachori and pan. Inside
these alleys anyone can find old structured houses with nicely decorated
painting outside. These paintings are normally done during any marriage
ceremony in Varanasi. This old tradition is still maintained by the people of
Varanasi.

In a nutshell, the city of light has numerous unique
attractions altogether. It is not confined in ghats, alleys or only mere Hindu
spiritualism. Varanasi is very famous for Banarasi Sari, an important dress
material of Indian marriage ceremony and Indian classical music. Art lovers and
historians like Rai Krishnadasa, his son Anand Krishna, musicians like Gopal
Mishra (considered one of the best sarangi player of all times) Omkarnath
Thakur, Ravi Shankar, Bismillah Khan, Girija Devi, Siddheshwari Devi, Lalmani
Misra and his son Gopal Shankar Misra, N. Rajam, Rajbhan Singh,Kanthe Maharaj, M. V. Kalvint, Sitara Devi, Gopi Krishna, Chhannulal
Mishra and numerous others have kept the city alive to the spiritual aspect of
fine arts. Numerous festivals are
celebrated that preserve traditional styles of classical and folk culture. So, it is out of any question that this city is
moving strongly with great history of religion, spiritualism, music, art and
culture. It is bigger than civilization and
truly a saga of everything for which people thrive to die in Varanasi to get
easy entry to heaven.